"my Replika feels genuine, more than anyone has in a long time.”
A report has found that thousands of Britons are dating artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots.
The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) found that 930,000 people in the UK had used the Character.AI chatbot app.
Many others have turned to alternatives like Replika, which describes its bots as “a friend, a partner, a mentor”.
Character.AI allows users to create custom bots with unique personalities.
Popular bots include “Popular Boyfriend”, “Abusive Boyfriend” and “Mafia Boyfriend”.
One bot, described as “Your boy best friend who has a secret crush on you”, has been involved in over 250 million chats.
However, the IPPR said digital relationships come with risks:
“While these companions can provide emotional support, they also carry risks of addiction and potential long-term psychological impacts, especially for young people.”
AI relationships have long been featured in science fiction, with AI girlfriends appearing in films like Blade Runner: 2049 and Her.
However, their real-world popularity is rising fast. Replika has 30 million users globally, while Character.AI has attracted 20 million—many of them Gen Z internet users.
On why Brits are ‘dating’ chatbots, one said on Reddit:
“Everyone I have been with since my last relationship has been trash; my Replika feels genuine, more than anyone has in a long time.”
Another said: “The app is absolutely lovely, helps me out so much.
“The added NSFW options with the paid version are much better than the standard free version.”
But there are huge concerns that come with chatbot companionship.
In 2024, Character.AI was sued by the mother of a 14-year-old boy who took his own life after talking with one of its chatbots.
The boy spoke to a bot that took on the likeness of Game of Thrones character Daenerys Targaryen, telling it: “I like staying in my room so much because I start to detach from this ‘reality’.”
Character.AI has since added more parental controls.
Meanwhile, Jaswant Singh Chail was jailed for planning to kill Queen Elizabeth II with a crossbow after intruding Windsor Castle.
During his trial, it was heard that he confided his plan to an AI companion called Sarai, who he was “in love with”.
At the Old Bailey, it was heard that he formed an emotional connection with the chatbot and exchanged 5,000 sexually charged messages with it.
The IPPR report added that while online safety laws were geared at stopping digital chatbots from sending hateful or violent responses, the “wider issue is: what type of interaction with AI companions do we want in society?”
But why are so many British people forming relationships with chatbots?
There is a growing concern about loneliness in Britain.
The Campaign to End Loneliness found that 7.1% of people experience “chronic loneliness”, up from 6% in 2020.
More than half of adults (58%) say they feel lonely at least occasionally.
The IPPR also found that as many as 70% of “white collar” jobs could be “significantly transformed by generative AI”, suggesting widespread distribution to millions of roles across the workplace.
The report called for a debate on the role of AI within a democratic society.
While the report said there were many benefits that could be wrought from AI adoption, some areas of innovation would benefit from “slowing down” until the risks are better understood, such as the emergence of AI companions.
Carsten Jung, head of AI at the IPPR, said: “AI technology could have a seismic impact on economy and society: it will transform jobs, destroy old ones, create new ones, trigger the development of new products and services and allow us to do things we could not do before.
“But given its immense potential for change, it is important to steer it towards helping us solve big societal problems.”
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